England's attacking fluency in rugby union is being hindered by the increasing number of rugby league coaches in the game, says former centre Jeremy Guscott.

Guscott, who played his last game for England in 1999, says he is surprised that players such as Billy Twelvetrees, Ben Foden and Mike Brown do not have a bigger influence when playing for the national side.

Speaking to the The Times about England's style of attacking rugby, Guscott said: “It is too autocratic, too prescriptive.

“A lot of teams want to get into a position that they can do a move, as in rugby league, where they go through three or four phases to manufacture a position from where they want to do a set move.

"It doesn’t surprise me that rugby union is following that route with the number of rugby league coaches there are in union.”

Guscott says quick ball is the key to good attacking moves, but he doesn't know why England's star backs are not playing as well for their country as they do for their clubs.

“Billy [Twelvetrees] has a God-given natural physique and talent that allows him to play that hard straight game or a number 10’s ability to pass the ball very well and accurately,” he said. “They haven’t used him in that way.

“It surprises me that players like Ben Foden, Mike Brown and Chris Ashton don’t have a bigger input. I don’t talk to them so I don’t know what is holding them back, because they have all done it for their clubs.”